Music is an echo of life. It is an universal language and powerfully captures the high and lows of human life. Singing, playing and listening to music are some of most intensely joyful moments that humanity all over the world resonates with and feels profoundly stimulated to enhance quality of life. Music pushes us to cross religious, cultural linguistic and national boundaries. Music being accessible to everyone stimulates a sense of adventure and lead to border crossings of various kinds. The experience of music brings about an intimate dialogue with every person and adds meaning and purpose to our life. Different forms of music strike a chord with us differently but none of us is truly insulated from the influence of music. Understanding music does not depend on one’s ability to decode it but it rests in our ability to live it. Indeed, music speaks to us in multiple or polyphonic tongues.
There is always something compelling about music. It keeps our heart beating on the strings, tones, melodies and percussions of the musical rhythms. The richness of all forms of music accompanies the shadowy as well as the brighter side of life. It gives us relief in our sorrows, insight and intuition in our quests for greater horizons, ecstasy in times of joy and empathy in times of struggles of our neighbour. It provides the background as well as the foreground to human longings, sufferings, failures, love , success and death. Like several other forms of music, classical religious music opens us to a wholesome experience of musical harmony. It produces an active engaging response that moves the whole person to dwell on it by dwelling in it. The voice of the religious classical music unfailingly addresses us and summons us to discern the presence of grace and spirit of God in sound of music.
Santa Cecilia choir and orchestra of Rachol Seminary has tried hard to bring to the people of Goa, a dynamic and living experience of religious classical music. The melodious polyphonic music sung and played by 142 youngsters has enthralled its audience and transported them into a celestial experience. While one can get lost in the powerful and expressive performance, it also provides a horizon and a background to raise our hearts and soul to God through the elevating harmonies and rhythms of music. Like last few years, the seminary choir is presenting a concert of religious classical music on April 18th 2016 in See Cathedral Church, Old Goa at 6 pm. The theme of Mercy and Easter would adorn the repertoire and compositions by Mozart, Allegri, Bach, Schubert and that of ever versatile Fr. Simon D´Cunha would be performed.
Leading the Choir, Fr. Simon D’Cunha has artfully synergized the energies and musical talents of the seminarians and other members of Santa Cecilia choir and is set to present the fruits of their hard labour to people. Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao will be the chief guest. Mr. Antonio Velho and Mr. Sebastiao Rodrigues will be the Guests of Honour. The evening promises to be a soothing, calming, healing and prayerful experience. In a year of mercy, profoundly led by the risen Jesus the musical concert is striving to move the hearts of the audience to become channels of God’s Mercy and Grace. Music chosen for the occasion embodies Mercy and the expressive performance of the Choir hope to let Mercy flow like a river streaming into the life of everyone refreshing and transforming it. The seminary under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Aleixo Menezes has left no stone unturned to truly ignite the evening with a dazzling performance so that all can be touched and be enabled to experience mercy and be active witnesses of the same in our society.
